Get ready cause here comes a long one. When you have family in town, friends from out of town, a holiday and the most fun sister in the world you can’t expect anything less. Here is the whole shebang from the beginning of the week.

Standing in the dug out is a little different in this game. It consisted more of watching kids and trying to keep dogs out of the game. I’m not quite sure how many of us were paying close attention to the game, but it was fun being with all the kids.

If you look past Uncle David and his sweet pitching you can see how hard I am working out in the field. I would have been better off picking dandelions or doing cartwheels with all the help I was giving. I really did try, but I just know that there is not a single athletic bone in  my body. At least I was enjoying my time in the sun! I make for a good team mascot. We were the Incredibles. I forget what the other team was called, but what does that matter when you clearly are the best. ;)

I wish Shawn was on my team. He never failed to get a good hard hit and nearly make a home run every time. I’m just glad that the bases weren’t always loaded. If that were the case we would have lost by a long shot. By the way great picture Dad!

I have no idea why I am the one helping Payton, seeing as I have no knowledge of how to even begin playing softball, but it was fun to help him out the best I could and to just get to spend a little extra time with him. And it made for a super cute picture.

Mom is taking all her frustration out right here. This is before they pulled ahead in the game. You can see how much effort she is using to knock the strings off that ball. She has a pretty good arm.

I must say it was quite the game this year. I can’t really tell you who won for sure. Point wise Uncle Mark’s team won, but without all the free charitable pitches and lack of strike outs we should have won. Oh well, it is all fun and games and it really doesn’t matter who won. Now Mom can stop complaining about always being on the losing team. 

So here you have the so called winning team in all their glory. They look happy don’t they? It was so much fun just watching my mom get all worked up about what points count and who did what. All I kept hearing from her was “it’s my game and we play by my rules!” Silly Mother. All her fun quirks only make me love her more!

And here is the real winning team, at least at heart. Even with the small children we managed a pretty good outfield strategie, with no help from me of course. With all my athletic ability you think I would have contributed to the game, but sadly it was no where to be found that day.

After the game Audrey needed to cool off a little... so 5 of us dumped water on her. :) straight down her back and on top of her head. The best part about it was that she had no idea I was one of them until a good few hours later when revenge was far from her mind. 

No swimming this year. It was more than warm enough, but sadly the pool pump broke and we haven’t had a chance to clean it out well enough for sanitary swimming. But we did however keep on with the traditions of our BBQ. All the kids found themselves eating on the trampoline as to leave the chairs for the adults. 

Jacqui and Andy got here safely and I was so excited to see them! I feel like it has been forever since we last did something. a month is plenty long to be away from some of your best friends. We took the time out to visit Jacqui’s grandpa at his gravesite. He was buried in the Military Cemetary or Redwood Road. It was nice to take some time out on Memorial day to really remember those who had helped fight for this country and all we stand for. 

Shopping, shopping and more shopping. I feel like that is all I ever do with Andy and Jacqui. I guess they don’t have a whole lot of options in Rexburg, so they take advantage of what is around when they leave town. We went to Payless to initially get my schedule for next week and came out with three pairs of shoes for myself and 2 pairs for Jacqui. When you get great deals and an added discount it gets really hard to pass things up. 

That evening we decided to have more fun! Dad, Jacqui, Andy, and I headed out to The Boondocks to go mini golfing. You can choose from two different courses, and we chose the Volcano! Oooooo...scary!

I would like to announce that I finally got a hole in one! This is my victory dance. I got so excited. It had never happened before, and I am glad we had a camera there to catch the beautiful moment. 

Here was our score card, and the winner is... Dad with a score of 43; runner up me with 52; Andy with 57; and Jacqui did a great job with the high score of 77. 

Like father like daughter. We had way too much fun for our own good. Dad can be more like a little kid just as good as the next person. Whether on just a simple car trip or at a Mini golf course he can have a world of fun!

Jacqui and Andy Show their super excited faces as we prepare to go on the Go-Karts, or at least Jacqui is excited... It was my first time riding on Go-Karts, and I loved every minute of it. I had a face off with Jacqui as we both took the lead. Her kart was bigger and ended up smoking me by the end. I have never laughed so much out loud to myself as I did on those silly karts. 

After our fun night at the boondocks we had dessert at sconecutters, and while we were waiting for our food I decided to take a picture of my new favorite shoes. Pink! I know not my typical choice, but after starting my job at Payless I couldn't pass up the discount. Plus, the picture has a priceless face in it. So pretty Jacqui! 

I was pooped after such a fun day on Monday that I wanted to relax. So while I waited for Jacqui and Andy to wake up and get ready I watched Marley and Me. It was a really cute but also very sad and deep for a kid movie. As soon as my guests got up and got ready we went shopping, took time to nap and then they headed back to Rexburg and I went to work. Nothing exciting happened there so I was excited to have Audrey call to let me know that they were all going to Tom’s house to play games. We enjoyed a very funny game of Apples To Apples where my personality was described as “chewy.” I’m not quite sure I understand what that means, but I will accept it nonetheless. After that fun game we made our way downstairs to play a game of what Tom calls Crap. It is lind of like Lightning, but with pool balls. It is far too confusing to describe, but I am proud to announce that I won the first game and got 3rd in the second. Not too shabby for a first time player!

Sad news... Remember that flu that everyone had at the beginning of the week? Well, it caught up to Audrey and I. We both called into work sick. We almost think we psyched our bodies into it. Almost worrying so much about getting sick, that we actually did. I woke up early to take Mom and Dad to the airport so they could go help Jenni move into her new house in Seattle, and when I got back I started to feel a little odd. I thought maybe I could sleep it off. I layed down until it was time to get ready for work, and then it all hit. There was no way I was going to go to work. 

I don’t think I have ever watched as much TV as I did that day with Audrey. We watched everything from Disney movies to reality shows. I must say I am very glad we have more options of channels now. Can you imagine being sick at home all day not feeling well enough to move with out entertaining reality TV? How on earth did people survive? ;)

We felt better that night, or at least I thought I did, so we headed over to Conner’s to get in his Hot Tub. It felt very nice and was very relaxing, but as soon as I got out I realized I wasn’t any better then I was this morning. Looks like I really did have a bug... and it lasted longer than any stomach flu I have ever had. 

My symptoms continued for a good 4 days full on, and then began to calm down after that. But 4 days was far too much work and fun to miss, so I stuck it out and tried to convince myself that I wasn’t sick at all. I even made it through a session at the temple with Audrey’s friends. I pretty much just had to convince my body that I was going to play an have fun no matter how bad I felt. I faked it pretty good until we went to Jake’s house to watch a movie. I couldn’t fake it any more and I had to ask Audrey to take me home. I felt bad for making her leave, but it was the only thing I could do to keep from embarrassing myself completely. 

All I let my self do the next day was go to work for a few hours and then pick up Mom and Dad from the airport. So much for all those wicked parties I would have had while they were gone. ;)

I don’t know how Jenni did it, but somehow while she was here she convinced Mom and Dad to get a new couch. Mom isn’t quite sure how she likes it, but Audrey, Dad and I really like it and are excited to continue redecorating that room. 

I spent most of my Saturday watching Lily and Kylie. We did everything from taking naps to jumping on the trampoline. As you can see we also played detective. Lily makes a great detective with magnifying glass and all. I think this is one of my favorite summer pictures thus far!

Take a look at that nasty stuff! No swimming for now. While Kylie and Lily were over we took the time to help dad hook up the new pump to the pool. After many attempts and hard work we finally hooked it up correctly. Now all we have to do is correct the chemical level and clean it out. It will take a long time, but I am determined to get it done so I can finally go swimming. 

This was quite the Sunday! I had quite a bit of time in the morning before church so I straightened my hair and really made an effort to look extra nice. Not for any particular reason, just cause I had the time. Church was great. I got to know Bro Olsen (one of the counselors in my singles ward) by having an interview with him. We talked about a lot of really cool view points of returned missionaries. He brought a lot of things to my attention that I had never thought of before. I think it was the longest interview I had ever had, but it was all very enjoyable. 

We had Ribs for dinner! I don’t know what is going on around here, but all of a sudden we are having real meat! First full steaks on Mother’s Day and now ribs. I guess Sunday cooking has been turned over to dad. 

After dinner I was able to take a lot of relaxing time on the new couch. Pretty much Audrey and I didn’t budge off the couch from the time dinner ended till we went to bed. 

Mom made it very clear that we were to keep our feet off the couch, at least for a week. So this is how we treated it. 

Dad even took it seriously!

We even had FHE in there. Normally when the whole family is home we stick to the family room, but this week Audrey and I refused to come in. This was the outcome!